Too Smart For His Own Good
by shayanne-rec
Summary: Alan "The Brain" Powers has always been the class genius. So does he really belong in third grade?
1. Brain Activity

Author's Note: This is meant to be read as a "lost" episode of Arthur, with slightly more mature themes.

"Mr. Ratburn, you're wrong," The Brain stated simply, with raised eyebrows and a look of triumph.

"Yes, yes, Alan," his teacher said heavily with a tone of annoyance. "The limit wouldn't actually reach that point but as I went over with you many times before, this is third grade and we're only learning the basics of graphing."

Brain put his hand down smugly and looked around the room. His classmates were not impressed.

Everyone knew that the Brain was the class genius. But usually he was the kind of guy who would help you out with a project if you had fallen behind because of a Bionic Bunny marathon that had gone on the week prior. Or the kind of guy who would play a quick game of H-O-R-S-E with you before the first bell rang. But this day had been the fifth day in a row that Brain had corrected Mr. Ratburn during a lesson. It seemed to the other kids that Brain was flaunting his smarts to be a know-it-all and he did not like that one bit.

While the kids went off to lunch, Nigel Ratburn sat at his desk feeling peeved. Alan usually was the quiet one in the back, giving a very accurate and detailed answer when called on, but not showing off like he had taken up doing in the past week. Alan obviously belonged in an upper level class but the school wouldn't hear of it. They claimed he wasn't "emotionally ready". Nigel had a feeling they secretly coveted him in events such as third-grade math and spelling tournaments against rival school Might Mountain. But then again, Nigel could never see the Brain doing very well if he got taken away from Arthur, Buster, and the rest of his third grade friends. If the boy had something troubling him that was sparking such a change in character, it would be up to his teacher to get to the bottom of it.


	2. Personalities

Arthur was kicking a soccer ball to Buster on the way home from school.

"What is WRONG with Brain?" he asked his best friend angrily after a particularly ferocious kick.

"Not sure," gasped Buster, as the ball pummeled him in the stomach.

"Sorry," said Arthur. "It's just…I know Brain can be kind of stuck up sometimes. But he's never been THIS bad. He's annoying everyone!"

"You're telling me," responded Buster. "Yesterday I invited him over to play Fish Finder 6, but the whole time he just told me about this article he had read about TV exposure. It wasn't any fun at all!"

Just then Francine sped by on her bike.

"Hey, Francine! Wait up!" Arthur called.

"What?" Buster asked.

"Well, Francine's really good at figuring out what's bothering people. Maybe she can help us." Arthur said.

"Okay," said Buster. "But if you ask me, we need a smart person like Brain to figure out what's wrong with the Brain."

Arthur stared at him

"Oh yeah…" said Buster sheepishly.

Moments later, they were in front of Francine's apartment building.

"Well, it all points to one thing," she said mysteriously.

"What?" the boys asked eagerly.

"He's in love!" Francine shouted triumphantly.

"No way," scoffed Buster.

"Come on, it could be!" Francine pleaded.

"Francine, you always say everyone's in love but you're never right," Arthur pointed out.

"I guess so," said Francine grumpily. "But something must have happened to make him act like this."

"Something at home?" Arthur suggested.

"An alien sighting?" Buster said hopefully.

Francine rolled her eyes. "Who knows? But it's going to take detective work to figure out that one."

They all looked at each other.

"Fern!"

Nigel Ratburn sat in Principal Haney's office, playing nervously with his hands. Mr. Haney was as jovial and absent-minded as ever, but there was something about being in the principal's office that made him feel like a kid again. The door opened.

"Nigel," Mr. Haney addressed him.

"Hello, Herb," Mr. Ratburn said.

"What can I help you with today?" Herb said kindly.

"Well, it's about my student, Br- er, Alan Powers."

"What about him?"

"Well as you know, Alan is unusually gifted. The way he's been acting in the classroom again reinforces that he needs to be doing upper-level coursework."

Herb Haney sighed. "Look, Nigel," he began. "We've been over this before. Alan is bright for his age, of course, but-"

"It's not just that!" Nigel interrupted, surprising himself and Herb.

"Listen to me, Nigel," the principal said gently. "Alan is ahead of his age. Third grade is when most kids are just starting to even out. One of your students, Buster Baxter, is _behind_ for his age, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, yes…" said the teacher reluctantly.

"So should Buster be forced to move back a few grades and leave his friends? My colleagues and I feel that at eight and nine years old it's still too early to tell. Unless Alan is showing signs of being truly unhappy, I see no reason to remove him from your classroom."

"I-"began Nigel, and then stopped. "I understand." He said glumly and walked out of the principal's office.


	3. Revelations

On Saturday morning, Arthur, Buster, and Francine were waiting at the Sugar Bowl for Fern to arrive.

"She should be here soon," Francine said.

"Good," said Buster, looking longingly at the menu. "I'm starving!"

The door jingled and Fern walked in, carrying a notebook and a pen.

"Hi, Fern!" Arthur motioned her over.

"Hi, guys," said Fern quietly, taking a seat next to him. "So you say that Brain has been acting strange lately?" she asked.

"Yes," said Arthur.

"More strange than usual, that is," Francine said.

"He's been showing off in class," Buster added, motioning the waitress over to their booth.

"How so?" Fern asked.

"Well, you've seen it," Arthur said. "Remember yesterday when Mr. Ratburn was making that graph on the board? And even outside of school, he's seemed so much more…I don't know…like a know-it-all, I guess."

"I see," said Fern, scribbling in her notebook. "Well, so far it points to one thing."

"Not love?" Arthur asked nervously.

"Well, I don't think so. But he is trying to tell us something,"

"What?" Francine asked.

"I don't know," said Fern.

Nigel paced back and forth in his house.

_Poor Alan_, he thought. _He reminds me of when I was a boy._

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

When Nigel was ten years old, he began acting out in class. He showed up the teacher during arithmetic lessons, and during recess, he snuck to the middle school building to hungrily skim through textbooks. He remembered having to stay after school almost every day to clap erasers as a punishment for his escapades until one day, a kind librarian suggested that to his parents he might move up to the sixth grade. There Nigel and thrived and he could hardly remember his days as a troubled young student. Until now.

"That's it!" Nigel said aloud.

The school had talked about Alan, Alan's parents had talked about Alan, but had anyone really bothered to ask the boy how he felt about it? Nigel grabbed the directory of students' home phone numbers, the number to reach Principal Haney, and practically raced to the kitchen telephone.


	4. Aggravation

AGGRAVATION

At the Powers' house, Brain and his parents had just sat down for dinner. Mr. Powers was going on and on about a situation that had gone on at his garage.

"Yes, yes, dear. But I'm sure Alan would rather talk about his day at school," his wife said gently.

"Oh yeah!" the Brain exclaimed louder than he needed to. "I'm too stupid to understand the complexities of a big great machine like a car! "He added sarcastically, stabbing a piece of broccoli with his fork.

"Alan!" Mrs. Powers said, shocked, and slightly hurt.

"Son," Mr. Powers began sternly.

But Brain had already left the table and was stomping up the stairs.

"I'll be in my room doing the homework I ALREADY FINISHED!" yelled Brain to his clueless parents. But they didn't have time to dwell on it because just then, the telephone rang.

Meanwhile at the Read house, they were having dinner as well.

"And then Tommy Tibble drew all over the chalkboard without even ASKING Ms. Morgan!" D.W. exclaimed, making a big show with her hands.

"Oh my," Mr. Read said vaguely, while stuffing a spoonful of mashed potatoes into Baby Kate's open mouth.

"At least Tommy's acting normal," grumbled Arthur, pushing the food around on his plate. Mrs. Read looked at her son, concerned.

"Something bothering you, sweetie?" she asked.

Arthur nodded and launched into the whole Brain story. When he was finished, his parents stole a glance at each other.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"That boy," sighed Mrs. Read, "has always been so smart for his age. It's a wonder he stayed in your grade at all."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Put it this way," said Mr. Read, wiping down Kate's high chair tray. "Would you be happy if you were learning in D.W.'s preschool class?"

"Sure, because then it'd be easy," scoffed Arthur.

"Hey!" D.W. retorted. "Preschool is very difficult sometimes! We have to sit still and-"

"Remember how miserable you were that one time Mr. Ratburn's sister substituted?" Mrs. Read interrupted them. "You came home every day, complaining that the work was too easy and she treated you like babies."

Arthur was silent for a moment and then quietly excused himself.


	5. Challenge Accepted

"I'm telling you, Brain must really hate this class," Arthur was talking to Buster, Francine, and Fern before class.

"That's crazy," said Francine. "He's friends with all of us and top of the class."

"That's the problem!" argued Arthur.

"But we're great friends!" Buster said angrily.

"No, I mean about being the top of the class," said Arthur, rolling his eyes slightly. "Remember when Mrs. Ratburn came in and by the end of the week, we were practically begging for harder work?"

"I can see Arthur's point," said Fern. "It would be rather annoying to always know everything. Maybe he could move up a grade like my cousin did."

"Move up a grade?" Francine said. "But then we'd be in different classes and…" she trailed off.

They all looked at each other, not wanting to think of the possibility of Brain not being their friend anymore. They walked into the classroom silently. To their surprise, Mrs. Tingly was in Mr. Ratburn's place.

"I'm here to watch you while your teacher is in a meeting," the stern secretary said curtly.

"Mr. Ratburn's not here!" said Binky, trying to look worried.

"Neither is Brain…" muttered Arthur, motioning toward the empty seat across from Binky.

Brain and his parents sat outside Principal Haney's office.

"Son, you know you could have told us what was troubling you before," Mr. Powers said, serious but affectionate.

"I know, Dad…but I just thought you would have noticed my increasing frustration by now. I mean, haven't you noticed how…how smart I am?" Brain finished, almost embarrassedly.

"Of course, dear!" said his mother. "But all parents believe their child is precocious, especially if they only have one. And the school convinced us in the past that you were simply ahead of her age and the others would catch up soon. We know now that you should be entitled to some say in what goes on in your schooling."

Brain smiled.

In the meeting with Mr. Ratburn and Mr. Haney, teacher, parents, and student all tried to convey their concerns to the principal.

"Well, do you think it would be in your child's best interest to move him up to the fourth or fifth grade?" Mr. Haney asked the Powers.

Brain's parents looked at each other and then to their son.

"Well?" Mr. Ratburn asked him kindly.

Brain looked up, seemingly at a loss. "Well," he began quietly. "Now that I have given the choice, it seems my heart is split between my thirst for academic challenge and my loyalty to my peers. Is there not a way I can, dare I say it, do both?"

Mr. Haney looked taken aback by the poise in words this nine-year old seemed to possess. Then his face broke out into a genuine smile.


	6. Mission Accomplished

Ten minutes later, Brain and Mr. Ratburn arrived back in the classroom, looking noticeably cheerful. Brain sat down in his rightful spot across from Binky and began unloading what looked like giant textbooks from a paper bag.

"So…are you going to be leaving?" Arthur asked his friend nervously.

"No," said Brain, smiling. "It turns out my plea for attention was not in vain and I will be sharing the remainder of the term with you, along with a delightful compromise."

"What?" Buster whispered to Binky.

"I don't know…I think something nice," Binky said, shrugging.

"Who cares?" said Francine. "We got the Brain back!"

At the end of the class, the third graders were putting away their things and getting on their jackets.

"So, how about some H-O-R-S-E before school tomorrow?" Buster asked Brain.

"I'd be happy to," the Brain grinned.

"Remember, class. Your report on the Renaissance artist of your choice is due on Friday." Mr. Ratburn announced. "And don't forget to go over these math problems for tomorrow!"

The class gave a typical groan, but it seemed rather light-hearted.

"Oh, and Alan," Mr. Ratburn added. "Don't forget-you have extra homework!"

"Yes sir!" Brain said eagerly, as he followed his friends out into the sunshine.

Note: Brain isn't one of my favorite characters, necessarily, but I thought it'd be interesting to write a story from his point of view, Mr. Ratburn's point of view, and Mr. Haney/the school's. I thought it'd be nice to explore the idea of why Brain is still in third grade, even after numerous episodes prove he's so intelligent. Also, a look into Mr. Ratburn's childhood, Brain's family's thoughts, etc... I thought everyone acted in character for the most part. Anyway, reviews are wanted, NEEDED, even. Let me know what I can do better and what you liked about it!


End file.
